


Therapy

by Kezi0629



Series: Bat-Family Matters [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Feels, Anxiety Disorder, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Character Study, Fluff, Therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 19:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15825768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kezi0629/pseuds/Kezi0629
Summary: Damian sees a psychiatrist.





	Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I've never been to therapy I'm sorry if this isn't accurate. The intention was to use this as a medium for a character study of Damian.

Damian did not like the idea of seeing a psychiatrist at all. Especially this one. 

“Hello, Damian. How are you today?” the female doctor asked from her seat across from a futon. The room was reminiscent of a classroom clattered with many toys and various books for the younger patients the woman sees. The corner they were in was a more traditional Freudian set up with dimmed lights and the proverbial couch. 

“Well,” was all Damian was willing to offer. 

“That’s good!” the woman was far too excited for the young boy’s taste. 

“Would you take it down a notch? Your more obnoxious than Grayson at the circus.” Damian snapped. 

“This is a safe space Damian. I allow you to feel what you feel, and I only ask that you do the same.” the woman adopted a patronizing tone as she was talking to the child in front of her. 

“I feel irritated.” Damian crossed his arms. 

“Why do you feel that way?” the woman asked. 

“I don’t want to be here, but it is not worth my wrath,” Damian Explained in the most offensive way possible. “Not to mention, I don’t have to be in school if I’m here.” 

“Well, that's a plus!” The woman was more excited than the situation called for. “Let’s talk about what we came here to talk about. Your doctor said you have High BP due to stress. What would you say stresses you out?”

“Right now, YOU!” Damian snarled. 

“Well, why do I stress you out?” the therapist inquired. 

“Because you're poking your nose where it doesn't belong!” Damian snapped. 

“I’m only trying to get to the root of your problem, so I can give you the best treatment option.” the women closed her notes to look the boy in the eye. 

“You already know the problem is stress. Why don’t you just give me the treatment for stress?” Damian inquired.

“I can’t because there are many for many different causes of stress. Sometimes it is easiest to just find the source and snuff it out. You will more than likely need therapy, and it won’t be an easy task if you don’t open yourself up,” the woman explained, maintaining eye contact the entire time. 

“I like myself closed, especially to someone I just met,” Damian insisted. 

“Well, you don’t have to tell me your innermost secrets, just tell me a little about what’s been going on with you. How long have you been having trouble sleeping?” The woman asked. 

“For a year,” Damian responded more calmly. 

“Why did you not seek help sooner?” The doctor asked. 

“It did not bother me,” Damian deadpanned. 

“What finally got you to come here?” The woman asked. 

“Grayson made me.” Damian finally uncrossed his arms and let them rest at his sides. 

“Who is Grayson?” The doctor opened up her notebook again. 

“My legal guardian and brother,” Damian clarified.

“How do you feel about his influence?” The woman gave him a warm look.

“He has too much.” Damian kept a relaxed stance while talking about his beloved brother—though he would never admit he describes him that way. 

“Why do you feel that way?” The psychiatrist asked. 

“I’m not a baby, and I don’t need someone to hover over me,” Damian spoke candidly. 

“You want more independence,” she stated, repeating back what she just heard. 

Damian nodded. 

“Do you think maybe that your stress and anxiety comes from feeling smothered.” The doctor got her pen ready. 

“I find it unpleasant, yes, but as for what causes my problems the answer is I couldn’t tell you,” Damian responded. 

“How do you feel about your brother in general?” The women delved deeper into the topic.

“What do you mean?” The boy asked. 

“Do you love him?” The woman clarified. 

“I don’t love anyone,” Damian corrected.

“Than what do you feel for him in your words?” She rephrase the question. 

“I find him irritating, but not entirely unwanted as company.” Damian almost let his lips curl into a smile, but ultimately kept his neutral expression. 

“Do you feel the same way about your father?” The doctor asked. 

“No.” Damian kept a straight face and spoke clearly and calmly. 

“What do you feel for him?” The doctor inquired further. 

“I respect and admire him greatly,” Damian responded. 

“It’s good to look up to your parents.” She closed up her notes. “I think our time is about up; let’s see if your pick up is here,” the women suggested. 

The doctor opened the door to the waiting room to find a tall young man with wily raven locks already moving towards them. 

“Hi, I’m Dick Grayson. I’m here to pick up Damian.” Dick held out his hand. 

The woman shook it. “Dr. Chelsea Barnes. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She twirled a curl with her free hand. Her lips curled into a flirtatious smile at the handsome man that greeted her with his dazzling blue eyes and million dollar smile. 

“Was he good? He can be a little difficult.” Dick nudged Damian playfully. 

“Yes, he was we had a nice conversation,” Chelsea answered. “I think he has a bit of a barrier and it will require some trust building in order to be able to get him the treatment he needs. I’m not much of a specialist in his particular area, but I can give some recommendations.” 

“We have someone we were thinking of having him see long term, but we will give you a call if it doesn’t work out, Doc,” Dick responded. 

“Call me Chelsea,” the woman corrected, playfully. 

“Thanks, Chelsea.” Dick waved to her as he corralled Damian to the door. 

Once they were safely behind the door, Damian spoke, “she was totally hitting on you.” 

Dick audibly laughed. “Yes, she was.” 

“Who am I to be seeing long term?” Damian asked. 

“I got B to drop the secret IDs so you could see Black Canary.” Dick unlocked the car so they could get in. “We think it’s best that you have someone you can be totally honest with.” 

“It seems idiotic to reveal such a thing to some harlot for such a dumb reason,” Damian growled in annoyance. He felt a bit guilty for the trouble he caused.

“It’s not a dumb reason; your health and happiness is more important than keeping a secret from someone who we do trust.” Dick started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “And what did we say about calling women derogatory terms!”

“Not to,” Damian mumbled reluctantly. 

“Yes, don’t let me hear it again,” Dick scolded. 

******************************

“Hi, Ni-I mean Richard.” Dinah stumbled over her words. 

“Hello, Dr. Lance,” Dick greeted. 

“Hi, Damian, ready for our session?” The blonde inquired. 

“No.” Damian made no motion to follower her or to leave the office. He just stood in place. 

“Don’t be like that, little D.” Dick nudged the boy forward. “Can’t you at least talk to her like you did Dr. Barnes?” 

“Anything I said to that bumbling idiot was inconsequential; I was never going to see her again, and definitely not in other settings, unlike Black Canary,” Damian argued. 

“What if I had responded to all of that flirting and asked her out? Then what?” Dick mocked. 

“I would have killed her,” Damian deadpanned. 

“Quit being stubborn!” Dick scolded. “It won’t be as bad as you think.” 

Damian rolled his eyes. “Fine,” He grumbled. 

“Great!” Dick gave an excited kiss to Damian’s forehead before running towards the door. “Bye!” 

“I will kill you, Grayson!” Damian made a break for the door, but was caught by the arm. He turned to see Dinah holding him back. 

“Why don’t you come with me to let out your frustration?” She phrased it as a question, but didn’t really mean it as one. She pulled him along into her office. 

They walked into the room which was set up like a sitting room with a punching bag and dummies set up in the corner. 

“We’ve got a couch, pillows, and tissues for the criers; and, we’ve got punching bags and attack dummies for the hitters.” She gave the tour of the peculiar office. “My guess is you’re the latter, but there is no shame if you’re the former.”

“Tch,” Damian scoffed.

“Dick gave me a small novel, detailing basically every moment of your life and I only really got through half of it,” Dinah gestured Damian to sit down. “Why don’t you tell me what’s been going on lately?” 

*********************************

Usually, Dinah can get away with stream of consciousness note style when talking with her patients, but Damian was so all over the place with symptoms from so many neuroses it was difficult to place the illnesses he had and the one’s he only had a few common symptoms of. She finally decided to give up on her usual note taking and just started making a chart.

Damian didn’t forget to notice the change in hand movement. “Are you doodling!?” 

“No, I’m creating a chart to better organize my notes from our session.” She turned the notepad to Damian so he could see. “Please continue telling me about your pets; the last one you mentioned was you dog, Titus, wasn’t it?” 

“Yes, That is correct,” Damian admitted before brushing the insistent off and continuing his listing of his pets and their various quarks and stories. 

Dinah made a note about his paranoia and his narcissistic tendencies. 

The rest of the session went relatively smoothly, surprised that he only through one knife into the wall, knowing the current Robin’s reputation. 

**************************

After the session, Dinah lead Damian back into the waiting room where Dick and Bruce were sitting. The session had gone a bit over so the two had been waiting for a while. 

When Dick saw his baby brother walk through the door he immediately lunges at him, wrapping him in a bone crushing hug. “How was it, kiddo?” 

“You’re acting like a fool Grayson!” Damian grumbled. 

“As always,” Dick quipped. 

“I would like to talk to both of you for a moment if I may?” Dinah asked. 

“Of course,” Bruce answered.

“Sure,” Dick was a little more skeptical of what she has to say with only on visit. Call him over protective, but he was acutely aware of the abrasive attitude Damian put off and would pick a fight with anyone who’d dare chastise him for it, especially after only one interaction. 

They were lead back to Dinah’s office and took a seat on the couch. 

“Work so much you gotta bring the gym with you,” Dick mocked, pointing to the sparring equipment. 

Dinah chuckled. “Those are for the patients with more aggressive energy. It helps them work out their feelings.” 

“What did you want to speak with us about?” Bruce interrupted their friendly banter to get back to the matter at hand. 

Dinah cleared her throat. “He has many issues that I would like to delve into at a later date, but what I would like to talk about today is his very prominent anxiety. I do agree with his doctor in thinking that it is the reason he has trouble sleeping.” Dinah thumbed through his notes. “He is fairly paranoid and is nearly always on edge from what I’ve seen. It’ll take some more time to discover the root of his issues, but I would recommend he take some medication to help manage his symptoms. I can write him a prescription now if wish?” 

“Yes, if you recommend it,” Dick responded. 

Bruce nodded in agreement. 

Dinah scrawled in her prescription pad before tearing the sheet off to hand to them. “Here you are. I’ll be seeing Damian same time next week?” 

“Yeah,” Dick answered her. “I Just have one question: did he open up at all?” Dick walked out with Bruce casually trailing behind him. 

“A bit. He still had very strong walls built up,” Dinah answered the question with a hopeful smile. “But, I plan to chip away at them piece by piece. I already got some nice shavings today and can’t wait to collect more.” 

“Thanks a lot. See you next week!” Dick smiled brightly at the Black Canary as he moved toward the exit. 

Dick turned to Bruce. “I think this is going to be good for him.”

“Yeah, it can’t hurt.” Bruce pushed the doors open. “Your gonna make me go to the pharmacy this time aren’t you?” Bruce sighed. 

“You know it, B,” Dick teased as they entered the room where his baby brother was waiting. “Hey, little D, up for Italian tonight?” 

“That is acceptable. Will father be joining us?” Damian responded. 

Dick eyed their mentor in askance. 

“Yes, I will come.” Bruce nodded. 

“Great!” Dick exclaimed. “You can go to the pharmacy after dinner.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is an introduction to a more ongoing fic that will be updated when I get the inspiration. Next installment of the overall series will be everybody forgetting about Damian's birthday.


End file.
